Shoe construction



June 6, 1933 v SILVESTRI 1,913,173

SHOE` CONSTRUCTION Filed May 24, 195o BY La ATTORNEY Patented June 6, 1933 f vnitien Misiinifes ai l, VLNCEN-m -asi;ifvi'-isim, oF YoNxEits; NEW YORK, AssIeNoa, h iaY mesma nsvsIGNMnNTs; oii

ONE-HALF froE 'ARTHUR 'GUINZBURG, on YONKERS;w NEW YORK 1Jsiren CONSTRUCTION y ed,- therei has been flacking complete successi An individual member,"carryingthereinforcy ing/pieceor brace, Was,--in no manner, confJ-ne'cted With a `suitable basefor anchoringl thereinforcing piece in position to' secure the `necessary cantilever action and. yet toretain `'the pieceagainst any sideplay orother movement l i i Due to the -iactfthat the sole Was fastened `to `the Welt arid tothe heel portionias a unit,

` .it Was-necessary'that the reinforcing ineinber :should beicarriedupon an individual; piece of leather' or `the like which was positioned Within the recess torinedfbetweenfthe secured upper and "thewwfelt` r"Such leather piece did notf-ha-veany secure anchorage toA any SliXed base, subh as the heelportion of the shoe, and was merely retainedin position b i the'resistancef,theturned underupper an the inner edges ofthe welt.. y Y Itis an object of this invention to provide ai reinforced .""shank nieiiiberifor Yuse inthe construction otivelted shoes to stiffenqthe l shank of "suchshoesA 'in ordertol prevent the breakdovvn of that portion. of the shoekiioivn as the shank, such reinforcing jineinber being anchored Vaga-inst any substantial `inov'einent sideways andjbeing substantially rigid; For this purpose a 'sinligle'` pieceof leather, `or siini'# "lai" niaterial, or, in proper cases, a plurality y ofpieces of leather, united each to each so as to forni `a substantiallyfintegral meinberp is shaped to'cojniorinto the .final contour of the heel` of the shoe vand1 tohavea portion eX- tendingr' therefromA substantially"conforming i toV thelnalfshaping of the innerfedges ofthe Weltingfoffthei shoe, y y, e yTof this 'is" Lattached,k any" suitable inannergiafrrietalli'cfor like-rigid piece'having elas- -belfirinly `held 41betr/veen such section and-they insolevvheu the assembly i'scoi'nplted. `Ivhe Ametallic 'piece is substantiallybowedifat ing the natural return'oiffthe'partstoitheir f "normal i condition after they have,` atffahy el Y "tic pro eities, one end of Whichsis preferably secure to that ortioii ofthe iiieinbeif which conforms to= the ieel'jof the shoe,gandthe"other end 'of the piece, bei'ng anchored-l to-'theeX-.ill`

tending portion of theM member. Thepoint 55 of anchorage on the heel sectionisfiinportait as a substantial'portionuof tlieipiecesluld beu Within the confines of the heel "section ',to

the central portion or otherwise,` iven-si-iilicient strength andresjilieiitpifoper iestipref- Ventthe excessive bending thereof, yet-assur-Lt tinie, been biased out ot position. {n this manner, there ssecured amember which may `be anchoredtogethei With the heelfportions of the shoe and thereby be retained against i any .side movement relative y thereto and also relative tothe body of 'the shoe,"and which gives tothe shankyportionof the shoe suffe.. cient rigidity and resiliency `to resistthe.; break=`d0vvn of that ortion of the'slioe.. i a

75 Due to the jactjtiat "thegheelyV portion of the i'nernber `is of substantially thefsaineextent4 as theheeL properf'of theA shoe, e the spreadingof the heel and *of theycountei upon Which, `in the so-called low-cut shoes, 50 reliance is hadA toretain the-shoe uponthe footjoi"L the wearer, *is resisted. e This reslilt is attained bythe construction above" set1 forth which a substantially i continuous surfaceV i of substantially the same characteristics 35V Ythroi-ighout is presented by the inenibefsubstantially throughout the entire bearing surface of-the heel and the counter. 1nl the old 'forni of "construction,fduelto` the fact that,W4 the side edges ofthe stiffening member diid 90 not extend, in anyuinanner, `to the"vicinity of thefedges of the heel andPtothe'boundsofthe v counter,`, the `Weight" of the body, brought to bear on-theseportions `which were;providedyf with ipractically no,back ing, Wouldfbreak 95 dvvif the shank 'and the counter lwith resultant dan'iage both to the,ivearinglproperties )is a rareaerfobjce @finis invasi-,ionic i a tions of the upper, the upper, the lining an d substantial depression bounded by the insole shoes is simplified, made more economicalY and efiicient, and the resultant product is of the same or substantially better quality than the products formerly produced, While hav- 5 111g the appearance of the highest grade product.

Other objects of this invention will be apparent from the drawing and'from the description thereof, or will be specifically indicated therein.

The inventionV is not intended to be restricted to the construction and arrangement of parts herein shown and described,vnor to the various details thereof, as the same may be modified in various particulars without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined by the claims, some practical embodiments of which have been herein illustrated and described without attempting to show all the various forms and modifications in which'the invention might be embodied.

On the drawing, wherein is disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a shoe, the sole and heel of said shoe being removed to 'xdisclose the manner of assemblyT of theV parts embodying my invention thereinto. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l with a modified form of my invention applied to the shoe. Fig. is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the shoes of Figures l and 2. Fig. i is a perspective view of a detail of my invention. Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4 of a modified form of said detail.

A shoe 10 having the conventional construction of upper 12, insole 14, welt 16, counter 18 and lining 20 is shown on the drawing. In thisconstruction, the upper and lining are seen to have been formed around the counter, which preferably is molded to the form of the foot, such upper and lining being tacked or otherwise secured to the insole with which the counter .is assembled. Along the sole and shank porthe welt are received together on the outer portion of the insole and are secured thereto by sewing or like method.

By this construction there is provided a on the bottom and the inner edges'of the upper and welt at the side portions thereof. At; the heel end of the insole, the lining and the upper are generally of such thinness that the cavity they form is'inappreciable. so that the condition of shoe` formed up to this point, is substantially flat at the heel re'gion.

Before the sole is applied to the welt and assembled with the heel portion of the shoe, it has become customary to iillthe sole portion of the cavity 22, just described,'with some waterproofing material, such as ground ycork mixed withsome suitable tar or pitch product having substantialy waterproofing qualities and suiicient adhesive properties to hold in properly associated relation the cork mixed therein and the other portions of the shoe withwhich 1t comes in contact. At the shank portion 24 of the shoe, which is substantially at the instep of the foot and, therefore, the position mostly desired to be protected against the ordinary dangers of breakdown, means are provided to give rigidity to this portion. I

ln the construction herein shown, a member 26 is used and is seen to consist of a heel section 2S and a shank section 30, substantially integral with each other. The member is preferably made of leather or some similar material and is preferably formed from one piece of such material so that the sections above noted will, at all times, be retained rigidly relatively each other.

llt will be noted that the heel section 28 is of substantially the same extent as that of the counter around which the upper is formed and of the insole at the heel portion of the shoe, while the shank section 30 at the heel end thereof is of substantially the same width as the distance between the secured welts, such shank section following closely the shaping between such welts. The edges 32 at point 3d of the junction of the heel and the shank section 30 of the member 26 are preferably skived to permit the ready und neat assembly of the member with the heel and shank portion of the insole and with the Counter. The skived edges 32 permit the positioning of the member with the heel section thereof slightly overlapping the skived ends of the welt, thus, when assembled, providing an appearance of uniform thickness substantially continuously around the body of the shoe. Skiving the edges 3G of the shank section permits the latter to fit smoothly into the cavity 22 and also opens up the porous portions of t-he leather to the action of the adhesive properties of the filling material deposited in such cavity, which then serves further to assure the retention of the member in position in the cavity.

A strap 38, preferably of spring steel, has the ends thereof anchored to the member in such manner that the length of the strap between the anchor points is slightly greater than that of the length of-leather lying between the anchor points. Since the strap will be positioned neXt to the insole and between the insole and member 26, pressure, as finally applied to the strap when the weight of the body of the wearer istransmitted thereto, will tend to distend the same and will thereby attainthe result of assuring that the sh ank section 8O will be retained rigid.

The surface of the member 26 which faces the insole and other portions of theshoe with which it is assembled is preferably the smooth outer hard skin of theleather so that the latter skin will be positioned directly in contact with the counter and the other por-` tions of the heel of the shoe. This skin has well-known properties of substantial rigidity in comparison with the other portions of the leather, and the manner of positioning de- :scribed assures that the counter and associated portions of the shoe will be restrained substantially against any spreading, due to the solid backing thus provided.` In the final assembly operation, the heel portion of the member will be nailed, together with the heel portion of the sole 37 and the heel 39 of the shoe, to the insole and counter, with which these elements will then be firmly anchored. Y

It is possible to construct the two sections of similar or distinctly different materials, such as two distinct portions of leather.4 In such case, the'edges of the two sections, at their junction sector, would require supplementary skived surfaces or the like to permit the joining, by gluing or the like, of the sections into a substantially integral member without the production of any decided nonuniformity in the thickness of the material at such junction sector.

In the modilication shown in Figp, the heel section 40 and the shank section 42 are made of separate portions of leather or similar material, and the adjacent portions 44 and 46 of the sections, which are linally to be united, are skived in such manner that the hard outer layer 48 of the heel portion will iinally be on the reverse side from that of the hard outer layer 50 of the shank portion. Bythis arrangement, the soft, absorbent side of the leather is presented at the shank portion to coact with the adhesive illingrmaterial, and the hard outer surface will be located at the heel portion in such manner that the proper coaction with the counter will be obtained as set forth above.

In the modification of Fig. 5, notches 52 are extended back through the heel portion substantially at the side edgesV of the shank portion and are adapted to receive therewithin the inseam formed by the junction of the insole, the welt and the upper. The skived edges 54 of the extending portions of the- Y heel section are positioned in such manner that they may overlie when the shoe islbeing worn, the skived ends of the Welt, as appears i of the heel end of the sole form to the counter and insole, a number of distinct steps are eliminated from the operation of manufacture when the principles herein taught are utilized.

Likewise, due to the rigidity resulting fromthe firmly anchored shankportion, a product results which compares'ifavorably with the custom made shoe in form and appearance, such product continuing to retain its `form after it has been put to the test of L use.

As it appears that many changes could bemade in the construction and process herein involved, and `many widely different emsaid insole, substantially the entire sole portion of said cavity lbeing tilled with 1an adhesive waterproofing material, anda member secured to, :and externally of ,said eupper.,

counter and insole vfor :stiiiening :the latter at the shank portion thereof, Asaid `member having aniend extending and substantially filling the `shank end lof said cavityto the i break-line, and being'anchored at the :heel end of said insole, and said watenprooiing material sealing the extending end of said member in said cavity. Y i

2. In shoe construction, an insole, an upper,ia counterxand a welt, secured together to `provide fav `shoe form, the welt iand'rthe upper forming a boundary fora cavity ceiled by .fsaidiinsole, anda :member secured to ,said upper, `counter' andminsole iorrstiffening :the latter `at the shank portion rthereoif, said mem'ber having .an extending end .substan- `tia'lly illing -the shank rend .of said `cavity and being anchored `atitheiheel end ofrsaid insolefsaid extending end `being ofless width than said lheel fportion by substantially `the width `of the welt,=.:the edges of said :member between said heel @portion `and said extendingend beingitapered to producea smooth, strong joint with the-,ends fof lthe welt, and the edgesofsaidextending endfbeing skived to set ismoothly `between the isoles.,

In: shoe construction, an insole,fan upper,

.kioo

a Icounter and a `welt,secured together `to provide a shoe form, the Aweltiand the upper forming `a boundary dor a cavity i ceiled by saidinsole, and a member secured ito fsaid upper," counter :and insole :ifor stiffening the latter at the shank portion thereof, said member having an extending end substantially filling the shank end of said cavity and being anchored at the heel end of said insole, said extending end being of less width than said yheel portion by substantially the width of the welt, and the edges of said member between said heel portion and said extending end being tapered to produce a smooth, strong joint with the ends of the Welt.

4. lIn shoe construction, an insole, an upper, a counter and a Welt, se-cured together to provide a shoe form, the Welt and the upper forming a boundary for a cavity ceiled by said insole, and a member secured to, and eX- ternally of said upper, counter and insole p forstiffening the latter at the shank por- Ll-t) tion thereof', said member having an end eX- tending, and substantially filling the shank end of said cavity, to the break-line, and being anchored at the heel end of said insole.

5. In combination, an upper, a counter, an insole and a Welt, said upper and counter being assembled With, to define a shoe form extending from one face of, said insole, a substantially flexible member applied to the opposite face of said insole so that pressure from said insole, and the inturned edges of the Lipper and counter will be directly borne by said member, said member having a hard face and a soft face, the hard face being disposed adjacent to said insole, said Welt being secured to said insole and defining a recess upon said opposite face, said member having a portion extending into said'recess substantially to the break-line, and a stiff, resilient member applied to said member and secured thereto at a plurality of points, one of which is Within the area defined by said counter.

6. In combination, an upper,a counter, an insole and a Welt, said upper and counter' being assembled with, to define a shoe form extending from one face of, said insole, a substantially liexible member applied to the opposite face of said insole so that pressure from said insole, and the inturned edges of the upper and counter will be directly borne by said member, said member having a hard face and a soft face, ythe hard face being disposed adjacent to said insole, said Welt being secured to said insole and defining a recess upon said opposite face, adhesive material deposited in said recess, said member having a portion extending beyond said counter and into said recessv substantially to the break-line, and a stiff, resilient member applied to said member and secured thereto at a plurality of points, one of which is within the areadefined by said counter, the soft face of said member being in contact with said material.

In testimony whereof he has aiiixed his signature. Y

' VINCENT SILVESTRI. 

